Top 10 Rocket Stocks for This Week

Although the title of this column is "Top 10 Rocket Stocks," it doesn't quite jibe since in this week's portfolio I feature 12 stocks that could make big moves higher in coming days.

It's my hope that this week's list -- Rocket Stocks for the Week of Aug. 13-Aug. 17 -- will offer some good short-term stocks to trade on earnings or the possibility of a snapback rally.

The goal of this portfolio is not necessarily to find the best stocks for the next century but rather ones that can either snap back this week because of an irrational selloff last week or because they have some potential catalyst that could create a massive move to the upside.

Last week was again one of the most volatile markets I have seen in years. With the Dow making multiple three-digit intraday swings, increased concerns over liquidity, the shuttering of more hedge funds and the recent Fed statement -- no wonder people are confused. But let's take a bit of comfort in some numbers here:

U.S. households have a net worth of $54 trillion. With all the headlines, you'd think that entire number was going to collapse. But right now even Standard & Poor's admits there's at most $100 billion of at-risk mortgage debt in question. Now, $100 billion is a lot. But it's only 0.2% of the U.S. net worth.

The volatility index, or VIX, spiked 23% last Thursday. Moves of greater than 20% have happened 10 times since 1997. In nine of those times, the stock market was up six months later. The average across all 10 occurrences was 10% six months later. Now, while it's perhaps not a significant figure, I can guarantee you this: In all 10 of those occurrences people felt for sure the market was going lower. And they were almost always wrong. Just like they will be now. So let's pick some stocks to buy!

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